tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post8638773712322414095..comments2014-04-18T09:47:55.100-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: Vault of the DrowJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-65935201055692388542008-10-31T05:31:00.000-04:002008-10-31T05:31:00.000-04:00Man, I love that module, it's been a very long tim...Man, I love that module, it's been a very long time since I raised a pint of brains in sloppy joe's Mind Falyer Bar.Philterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530054261796573426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69555609587291618212008-10-30T13:09:00.000-04:002008-10-30T13:09:00.000-04:00Inspiring. Thanks.Now... Where did I put my own co...Inspiring. Thanks.<BR/><BR/>Now... Where did I put my own copy of that module...Doctor Checkmatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931626536197815282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2548935379120199732008-10-30T10:46:00.000-04:002008-10-30T10:46:00.000-04:00I'm pretty sure that lacofsite is also a play on L...<I>I'm pretty sure that lacofsite is also a play on Len Lakofka, as well....</I><BR/><BR/>That seems very likely.James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-81488049617180681782008-10-30T10:45:00.000-04:002008-10-30T10:45:00.000-04:00...sort of a Gygaxian decoder!Allan Grohe is one o...<I>...sort of a Gygaxian decoder!</I><BR/><BR/>Allan Grohe is one of the great scholars of Gygaxian lore out there; he's a font of terrific information and we're lucky to have him around.James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-49113908484383866582008-10-29T23:07:00.000-04:002008-10-29T23:07:00.000-04:00James, you may be aware of this, but I thought thi...<I>James, you may be aware of this, but I thought this was pretty neat myself:<BR/><A HREF="http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html" REL="nofollow">http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html</A><BR/>...sort of a Gygaxian decoder!</I><BR/><BR/>Thanks for the plug, Jim. I'm pretty sure that lacofsite is also a play on Len Lakofka, as well....<BR/><BR/>Allan.grodoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11800184312511280050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90995465574130565122008-10-29T22:25:00.000-04:002008-10-29T22:25:00.000-04:00Great article, James. I definitely need to go bac...Great article, James. I definitely need to go back and look at Vault again. I think in my mind, I sort of have the drow in the overplayed Realms/Salvatore vein, and its hard to remember it wasn't always so.Zachary The Firsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01166638173640517627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-54696551407611594302008-10-29T21:33:00.000-04:002008-10-29T21:33:00.000-04:00I never realized what a good writer Gygax was. I'...I never realized what a good writer Gygax was. I'm going to have keep my eye out for this one.Olman Feelyushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521657876810568251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88581502305669746592008-10-29T20:18:00.000-04:002008-10-29T20:18:00.000-04:00Awesome retrospective on one of Gygax's crowning a...Awesome retrospective on one of Gygax's crowning achievements. As you say, getting so much into just 28 pages is a feat literally impossible with today's design standards. <BR/><BR/>At the risk of shamelessly promoting my own blog, I would humbly point folks interested in some of the more obscure and interesting points related to DMing the D series to <A HREF="http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/search/label/G1-3%2FD1-3%2FQ1" REL="nofollow">a couple of posts I did on the subject</A> this summer.Josephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01355324231111953098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16052906336054198712008-10-29T20:05:00.000-04:002008-10-29T20:05:00.000-04:00When I got into D&amp;D the drow already seemed pl...When I got into D&amp;D the drow already seemed played out, and vaguely depressing. Because of this post, I&#39;m going back and reading D3 for the first time now. <BR/><BR/>It&#39;s incredible. Thanks James.belst8http://www.blogger.com/profile/05896444893911828265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-47732276156210099452008-10-29T17:47:00.000-04:002008-10-29T17:47:00.000-04:00Great entry. This one, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa (my ...Great entry. This one, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa (my personal favorite for atmosphere alone) and Tharizdun all achieve that sublime Lovecraftian <I>weirdness</I> that elevate them above a mere collection of encounters on a keyed map. And every one of them, as you point out, with such economy; together, those three modules don't add up to all the pages in on of the Forgotten Realms grey box books.KenHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11613789646908929989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28514867329767388442008-10-29T16:57:00.000-04:002008-10-29T16:57:00.000-04:00Oddly, I never found D3 that compelling, as a DM r...Oddly, I never found D3 that compelling, as a DM reading it. "What are they supposed to do?" I thought. "Raid warehouses?" It did not seem a compelling diversion to me compared to raiding dungeons. <BR/><BR/>However, when I finally got around to running it after years, it led to some very exciting moments. The PCs were discovered in a courtyard in the heart of the city and, as they battled the residents, the players were getting scared when mind flayers started showing up to watch the battle, and intrigued as the mind flayers just stood there observing. Good times.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07175512698266614039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-29415520728248291562008-10-29T16:40:00.000-04:002008-10-29T16:40:00.000-04:00Now I want to buy a copy of this module!Now I want to buy a copy of this module!Christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650456794111980661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-45875398760806390322008-10-29T16:33:00.000-04:002008-10-29T16:33:00.000-04:00James, you may be aware of this, but I thought thi...James, you may be aware of this, but I thought this was pretty neat myself:<BR/><BR/>http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html<BR/><BR/><BR/>...sort of a Gygaxian decoder!Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07997164906328234122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17893448907871060342008-10-29T15:49:00.000-04:002008-10-29T15:49:00.000-04:00Don't feel bad: Gary was a master punster; he incl...Don't feel bad: Gary was a master punster; he included lots of such stuff <I>everywhere</I> and I miss them all the time.James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-60577645048901554732008-10-29T15:44:00.000-04:002008-10-29T15:44:00.000-04:00tumkeoite = Tom KeoghI never noticed that before.tumkeoite = Tom Keogh<BR/><BR/>I never noticed that before.Geoffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16161800901863646891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78199358104716910342008-10-29T15:01:00.000-04:002008-10-29T15:01:00.000-04:00And people say Gygax can't write! That passage put...And people say Gygax can't write! That passage puts the lie to that, I think. I think the "dark fairyland" bit at the end is the real kicker for me, since it sums it up so well in so few words.<BR/><BR/>I also think there's something profoundly human about the way Gary continued to slip small homages to his boyhood friend Tom Keogh into his works. He obviously felt his loss greatly.James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-45784612458252894892008-10-29T14:34:00.000-04:002008-10-29T14:34:00.000-04:00I think that Gary&#39;s D trilogy of modules are t...I think that Gary&#39;s D trilogy of modules are the best A/D&amp;D modules of all time.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps the highest bit of High Gygaxian is the following passage from pp. 10-11 of D3: Vault of the Drow. The first paragraph gives the context, while the second ramps it up to maximum Gygaxian. <BR/><BR/>&#39;The true splendor of the Vault can be appreciated only by those with infravision, or by use of the roseate lenses or a gem of seeing. The Vault is a strange anomaly, a hemispherical cyst in the crust of the earth, an incredibly huge domed fault over 6 miles long and nearly as broad. The dome overhead is a hundred feet high at the walls, arching to several thousand feet height in the center. When properly viewed, the radiation from certain unique minerals give the visual effect of a starry heaven, while near the zenith of this black stone bowl is a huge mass of tumkeoite -- which in its slow decay and transformation to lacofcite sheds a lurid gleam, a ghostly plum-colored light to human eyes, but with ultravision a wholly different sight. <BR/><BR/>&#39;The small &quot;star&quot; nodes glow in radiant hues of mauve, lake, violet, puce, lilac, and deep blue. The large &quot;moon&quot; of tumkeoite casts beams of shimmering amethyst which touch the crystalline formations with colors unknown to any other visual experience. The lichens seem to glow in rose madder and pale damson, the fungi growths in golden and red ochres, vermillions, russets, citron, and aquamarine shades. (Elsewhere the river and other water courses sheen a deep velvety purple with reflected highlights from the radiant gleams overhead vying with streaks and whorls of old silver where the liquid laps the stony banks or surges against the ebon piles of the jetties and bridge of the elfin city for the viewers&#39; attention.) The rock walls of the Vault appear hazy and insubstantial in the wine-colored light, more like mist than solid walls. The place is indeed a dark fairyland.&#39;Geoffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16161800901863646891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72334910246947326962008-10-29T14:07:00.000-04:002008-10-29T14:07:00.000-04:00Once again James -- excellent work. And timely wit...Once again James -- excellent work. And timely with All Hallows Eve just around the corner. Now I'm going to have to go pull out my archives and find D3 and reread it myself! (Although I think I have the late 80's D1-3 combined version with the blue (green?) cover. Cant remember... hopefully I can still find it.Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06133232985480734844noreply@blogger.com